UCLA guard Jordin Canada goes to the basket past Boise State forward Shalen Shaw during the second half of a first-round game in the NCAA women’s college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 18, 2017, in Los Angeles. UCLA won 83-56. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)

LOS ANGELES >> It was Sunday, about 11:30 a.m., when UCLA junior point guard Jordin Canada sat down inside the media room at Pauley Pavilion. The night before, Canada and her teammates watched fifth-seeded Texas A&M come from 21 points down in the fourth quarter to defeat No. 12 Penn 63-61 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

That meant the fourth-seeded Bruins would next take on the Aggies on Monday at 7 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion (on ESPNU) for a ticket to the Sweet 16, where either top seed UConn or No. 8 Syracuse will await.

“My first thought was that they’re tough,” said Canada, whose team walloped No. 13 Boise State 83-56 on Saturday. “Penn was very good and they executed very well. But I thought that Texas A&M just battled and they fought in the fourth quarter and that’s what got them back and made them take the lead.”

It was an eye-opener.

“So for us, we have to know that they’re not just going to give up,” Canada said. “We have to keep punching and keep fighting for 40 minutes.”

Bruins coach Cori Close said she allowed her players to leave if they wanted to after the third quarter of Texas A&M’s victory, so not all of them witnessed the furious rally.

Close stayed, though, and she knew something could happen.

“They’ve come (from) behind a lot and I think you saw that they referenced that in their own minds, that they were never down and out,” she said. “I’ve coached against (Aggies head coach) Gary Blair and (assistant) Bob Starkey for years and years and I just kept saying to myself, ‘There’s a run coming, there’s a run coming.’ “

One of the potentially exciting things about this game will be the matchup of point guards – Canada and senior Curtyce Knox of Texas A&M. Canada averages 17.9 points and 6.8 assists. She had 15 points and a school-record-tying 16 assists Saturday. Knox averages 10.7 points and 9.1 assists. She had an off-night shooting Saturday, scoring seven points on 3 of 12 from the field. She doled out eight assists.

Close said although she will mix it up defensively, Canada will be the primary defender on Knox. Canada is looking forward to it.

“I mean, it’s going to be about what point guard can control the game better and what point guard can get their teammates involved the most,” she said. “We love to pass the ball, both of us, and we take over when we need to. So it’s going to be a fun matchup.”

Knox echoed that sentiment.

“We watched a little bit of film on them this morning and she’s a very quick point guard,” Knox said. “I think she’s the quickest point guard I’m going to play against this year, so I’m very excited for that matchup.”

Defense and rebounding, as usual, will be big. The Bruins were outrebounded 39-37 by Boise State, which took down 22 offensive rebounds. The Aggies outrebounded Penn 45-34, getting 21 offensive boards.

“You notice last night how many more shots on the goal that Texas A&M got than Penn,” Close said; Penn took 53 shots, the Aggies took 66 and shot just 30.3 percent. “You can’t allow Texas A&M to get that many more shots.”

UCLA 6-foot-4 junior forward Monique Billings will be counted on to help the Bruins in the paint. She’s averaging 10.6 rebounds. Sophomore forward Anriel Howard is averaging 10.5 for the Aggies and junior center Khaalia Hillsman is at 8.2; Hillsman, who is 6-5, also averages 16.5 points after scoring 27 Saturday.

“Hillsman, she’s a load, boy,” Close said. “If she gets deep and gets position and gets touches where she wants to, there is nothing we can do about it.”

Hillsman figures she is going to see a lot of Billings, who gets up and down the court like a guard.

“I know personally, for myself, I’m going to have to sprint back every possession because she’s extremely athletic, she’s extremely long and mobile,” Hillsman said. “She’s really a 4, but she’s playing the 5.”

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